55 

N^5 



;«bO 



OlX**> 



- 



V 



NEW SOUTH WALES. 



FOOD. 

A Memorandum Prepared in Connection 

with an Inquiry to be made by 

the N.S.W. Board of Trade. 



BY 

D. T. SAWKINS, M.A., 

Statistical Officer, 

NEW SOUTH WALES BOARD OF TRADE. 




SYDNEY : 
WILLIAM APPLEGATE GULLICK, GOVERNMENT PRINTER. 

1920. 
1 74664— A 

[6c*.] 



NEW SOUTH WALES. 



FOOD. 

A .Memorandum Prepared in Connection 

with an Inquiry to be made by 

the N.S.W. Board of Trade. 



D. T. SAWKINS, M.A., 

Statistical Officer, 
NEW SOUTH WALES BOARD OF TRADE. 




SYDNEY : 
WILLIAM APPLEGATE GULLICK, GOVERNMENT PRIME 



t 74661— A 



1920. 

[6rf.] 






Tins Memorandum has been prepared for the use of persona interested in 
the proceedings of the Xew South Wales Board of Trade upon an inquiry 
with respect to the cost of living and a living wage, to be opened on the 
5th July, 1020. This inquiry is provided for by Section 70 of the Industrial 
Arbitration Act, 1012-10. 

Board of Trade Office, 

2.3th June, 1020. 



Memorandum ordered to be printed and published by resolution of the 
Xew South Wales Board of Trade, passed on the 25th June, 1020. 



Office of the Xew South Wales Board of Trade, 
University Chambers, 

78 Elizabeth-street, Sydney, 
25 th June, 1020. 



II. L. Lamond, 

Secretary. 



THE NEW SOUTH WALES BOARD OE TRADE. 

Inquiry into Cost of Living of Adult Males, 1920-21. 

Memorandum by the Statistical Officer. 

yd Jtme, 1920. 

FOOD. 

The Board of Trade indirectly expresses its ideas with regard to diet 
in formulating a regimen whose cost enters as one of the elements of the 
average cost of living. 

The regimen hitherto adopted by the Board may or may not be satis- 
factory. 

The regimen should satisfy two requirements: — 

(1) When tested by physiological principles it should be adequate for 
the worker and family contemplated by the Board. 

(2) It should not depart widely, without good reason, from the usage of 
the community. 

The problem is, therefore, partly physiological and partly statistical. 
The following notes may be of value in the earlier stages of the discus- 
sion: — 

Basal Metabolism. 
Professor E. II. Starling, who, with Professor T. B. "Wood, represented 
the United Kingdom on the Inter-Allied Food Commission, states that the 
basal metabolism of the average man between ages 20 and 50, that is, the 
energy requirement of, for example, a man in bed before breakfast, is 397 
Calories* per square metre of body surface per hour.f The basal metabolism 
is thus, on the average, proportional to the area of the surface of the body. 
It therefore varies among races of men, or groups of men of the same race, 
according to stature. For example, Dr. Langworthy, successor of Professor 
Atwater, the famous investigator of the United States Bureau of Agricul- 
ture, found that the energy requirements of Japanese professional and busi- 
ness men were but two-thirds of those of Americans in similar employment, 
the average weight of the former being 105 pounds and of the latter 150 
pounds.:}: The mean heights and weights of men are given by Professor 
Starling as follows : — 

Mean Heights and Weights. 
British Association (1883) found for England. .5 ft. 71 in. ]55 lb. 
American and Canadian insured men, 1912 ... .5 ft. 8-5 in. 155 lb. 

The weights given are inclusive of clothes. Allowing 10 lb. for clothes, the 
surfaces are found by an established formula to be as follows : — 

Average Body Surface. 
English . . . . . . . . . . 1-772 sq. metres. 

Americans and Canadians . . . . 1792 sq. metres. 

* A Calorie is roughly the amount of heat required to raise one pound of water 4* 
Fahrenheit, and is mechanically equivalent to nearly I "54 foot-tons. 

t " The Feeding of Nations," by E. H. Starling, C.M.G., M.D., &c, Longmans, 1919. 

X " Food Customs and Diet in American Homes," by C. F. Langworthy, Ph. D. — 
Circular 110, Office of Experiment Stations, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, 1911. 



Taking me latter figure as the most recent, Professor Starling finds 71 1 
Calories per hour, or 1,706 Calories per day, for the basal metabolism of the 
average man. Statistics of the average height and weight, or body surface, 
of Australians are not available. The Australian Mutual Provident Society 
has been asked to provide such statistics for insured persons in its ordinary 
and industrial branches, and if the Society can see its way to prepare these 
figures it will be possible to establish the basal metabolism of Australians 
on an adequate basis. 

Energy Requirements of the Average Man. 
From the basal metabolism Professor Starling deduces by rough methods 
the average energy requirements of a man during a day of average life. He 
divides the day into three equal parts, viz., eight hours of sleep, eight hours 
of sitting, walking, &c., and eight hours of work. The energy required 
of merely sitting are estimated by Professor Lusk, who, with Pre: 
Chittenden, represented the United States of America on the Inter-Allied 
Food Commission, at 5 per cent, beyond the basal metabolism. Estimates 
have also been made by Professor Lusk and others of the energy require- 
ments during other activities. The Americans are conspicuous investiga- 
tors in this direction, particularly Professor Benedict, of the Office of 
Experiment Stations of the United States Department of Agriculture.* 
Taking the various ordinary activities as a whole, Professor Starling esti- 
mates the extra energy requirements for them at 30 per cent, of the basal 
metabolism during the period of eight hours. During the period of work 
he estimates, from various experiments and investigations, that the energy 
output of the average man during eight hours is 240 Calories. Taking the 
efficiency of the human machine, the body, at 25 per cent., he estimates the 
energy requirements for this purpose at 960 Calories. Finally he add- an 
extra 300 Calories for locomotion. Summarising these estimates, we have — 

Average Man's Energy Kequirements. 

Calories. 

Eight hours' sleep at 711 Calories per hour . . . . 569 

Eight hours' awake at 71 1 Calories per hour, plus 30 

i per cent. . . . . . . . . . , . . . . 739 

Eight hours' work at 71- 1 Calories per hour, plus 960 

Calories 1,529 

Locomotion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300 



Total 3,137 

As Professor Starling himself points out, the process of this calculation is 
somewhat arbitrary. Ii may be regarded as a very hypothetical way of 
arriving at a result which the experts consider after (1) numerous experi- 
ments on men in various states of activity; (2) dividing up the total con- 
sumption of the nation amongst its units, to be somewhere near the truth. 
However, Professor Starling, after considering the requirements of persona 
in sedentary occupations, which are considerably less, takes the round num- 
ber 3,000 as representing the actual energy requirements of the average 
man. Food purchased is not, however, all digested. Allowing 10 per cent. 

* See Bulletin 175— " Experiments on Metabolism," 1907 ; and " A Biometric Study 
of Basal Metabolism in Man," by Harris and Benedict, Carnegie Institute, Washington, 
1919. 



to measure the unavailability for digestion of the energy as it exists in 
the food purchased, he arrives at 3,300 Calories as the average man's 
requirements of food as purchased. 

At the meeting of the Inter- Allied Food Commission at Paris on the 
25th March, 1918, " It was decided that a man of average weight (TO kilos 
or 154 lb.) doing average work during eight hours a day, requires food as 
purchased with an energy value of 3,300 Calories daily."* 

The Inter- Allied Commission came into existence towards the end of the 
war. The Germans, however, in view of the British blockade, had considered 
their food requirements long before. By December, 1914, a body of German 
scientists, statisticians, and economists had voluntarily associated, inquired^ 
and published the results of their inquiries in a work entitled " Germany's 
Food and England's Plan to Starve Her Out."t The publication was 
edited by Eltzbacher, and is usually referred to as the Eltzbi\cher Report. 
The following extract is from the English translation, p. 26 : — 

" However, by statistical observation of the conditions in certain 
callings, ages, and ways of work we have obtained data in regard 
to the need of pure Calories. The results are supported and 
endorsed by scientific experiments of the most varied kind. 

Experimental and statistical methods were used extensively about 
fifty years ago by Carl von Voit, in order to ascertain the amount 
of food required under varying conditions. 

Later, on this basis, the following quantities were allowed as daily 
nourishment for a person weighing 70 kilograms and living on a 
mixed diet — for moderate work about 3,050 Calories, and for hard 

work 3,575 Calorics. A similar estimate is made by Rubner; he 
allows for his work-category 1 (physician, light indoor employ- 
ments), 2,415 Calories; for category 2 (moderate work), 2,868 
Calories; for category 3 (heavy work), 3,362 Calories; and for 
quite exceptional activities (Upper Bavarian lumberman) up to 
6,100 Calories. For many sports we can find even higher values, 

but as we are dealing here with the feeding of a mass of 
people, we need not take them into account. On the whole we 
should not make too low an estimate if we put the food require- 
ments of a healthy, full-grown man at an average of 3,000 
Calories." 

The following is a selection of results of dietary studies of European? and 
others, made by Langworthy in 1911. Such studies were chosen " as seemed 
similar in purpose and method to the American work, preference being 
given to those which were recent and carried on with reasonable accuracy, 
and which, so far as could be judged, represented usual and normal rather 
than abnormal or experimental conditions.'^ In most cases the energy of 
the total diet is not given, but in the cases where both that figure and that 
for the energy utilised in the body are given, their percentage difference is- 
not very different from the 10 per cent, taken by Professor Starling. 

* The. Xational Food Journal, Ministry of Food, LondoD, Vol. I, No. 19, June 12, 
1918. 

t English Translation — "Germany's Food; Can it Last?" By Russell Wells, and 
Waller, London, 1915. 

X " Food Customs and Diet in American Homes " — Circular 110, Office of Experiment 
Stations, United States Department of Agriculture. 



Table I. 





Energy. 


Protein 




Of Total Diet. 


Utilised. 


Eaten. 


Digested. 


United States : — 

Men at hard muscular work — 

Artisans, labourers, etc., average of 


Calories. 

6,4*5 
4,980 

3,685 

3,560 

2,820 
2,275 

3,735 


Calories. 

6,000 
4,510 

3,425 

3,285 

2,600 

2,100 

3,480 

3,085 

3,107 

2,685 

3,228 
3,979 

3,011 
4,378 
3.9S4 

3,281 
4,557 
3,032 

3.1?4 
4,000 

3,655 

4,400 

3,400 

3,061 
4,530 
2,511 

2,750 
4,570 

3,000 
4,370 

3,015 


Grams. * 

177 
198 

100 

106 

86 

69 

103 

82 

98 

89 

108 
143 

114 

167 
157 

134 
189 
127 

119 
155 

125 

148 

125 

134 
137 
111 

110 
149 

92 
136 

121 


Grams. 
162 


Athletes, average of 19 studies 

Men at moderate muscular work — 
Farmers, artisans, labourers, etc., 


182 

92 


Men not employed at muscular occupa- 
tions — ■ 
Business men, students, etc., average 


98 


Men with little or no muscular work- 
Inmates of institutions, average of 49 

studies 

Very poor working people, average of 


80 
64 


Canada — 

Factory hands, average of 13 studies 
West Indies — 

Farmers, light work, Leeward Islands 
Ireland — 


99 
75 
90 


England — 


£2 


"Scotland — 


99 




132 


Finland — 


106 


Working-meD, hard work 


150 




144 


Sweden — 

Working-men 


123 
174 




117 


Russia — 


109 




143 


Northern Italy — 

Labourers 


115 


Southern Italy — 


136 


Italy- 
Farmers and mechanics 

■Germany — 


115 
123 




126 




102 


France — 


101 




137 


Belgium — 

W orking-men 


84 


Farmers 


125 


Foland— 

Well-to-do families 


111 







• 1,000 gramt (1 kilo.) = 2205 lb. nearly. 



Table I — continued. 



Persons. 


Energy. 


Protein. 


Of Total Diet. 


Utilised. 


Eaten. 


Digested . 


Japan — 


Calories. 
3^091 

2.700 
3,100 


Calories. 

4,415 
5,050 
2,823 
2,190 
2.S00 

2,500 

2.457 
2,821 

3,400 

3,^66 

2.S25 

2,812 


Grams. 

US 
158 
102 

87 
98 

73 

90 
100 

91 

134 

112 

108 


Grams. 
103 




137 




94 








SS 


Java — 


67 


Philippines (native of Tay Tay) — 


83 


Men at hard work 

China (Lao-Kay) — 


92 
83 


Anam — 


123 




103 


Congo— 


99 







Langworthy, interpreting these figures, says that the majority of the results 
if reduced to a common basis of stature do not differ very markedly from 
a general average. " Although the food may differ very decidedly, the 
nutritive value of the diet in different regions is very much the same for a 
like amount of muscular work."* He quotes Paton and Dunlop,f of Edin- 
burgh: "The study of the ordinary diets of the labouring classes in alt 
countries seems to show that whenever possible a diet is secured which will 
yield something over 3,000 Calories of energy and over 100 grams of pro- 
teids per man per diem." Langworthy infers : " It seems probable that, as 
these authors suggested, so many varied races could not be mistaken in their 
food demands, and that this quantity does approximately represent the 
demand of the body for nourishment under the given circumstances.":}: " As 
a result of the dietary studies which have been made, and other data," he 
lays down the following standard : — ■ 



Dietary Standard for a Man in Full Vigour at Moderate 
Muscular Work. 

Calories. 

Food as purchased 3,800 

Food eaten 3,500 

Food digested 3,200 

Here is seen a difference of 20 per cent, between the energy value of food as 
purchased and that of food digested, which is twice the percentage allowed 
by Starling. A 9 per cent, difference between the energy value of the food 

* " Food Customs and Diet in American Homes," Circular 110, Office of Experiment 
Stations, United States Department of Agriculture, pp. 16-18. 
t Ibid. p. 17. 
fiVoc. Boy. Soc., Edinb., 25 (1904-5), p. 498. 



8 

eaten and that digested seems to be well-established by Langworthy. At 
page ;2 of the circular already quoted, he gives the following coefficients: — 

Table II. 

Co-efficients of Digestibility and Availability of Energy of Different 
Groups of Food. 

Per cent. 

Meat and fish -7 

Eggs 

Dairy products 18 

Total animal foods of mixed diet S9 

Cereals M 

Legumes, dried 

Sugars and starches 

Vegetables 

Fruits S3 

Total vegetable foods of mixed diet 92 

Total food 91 

The difference between the energy value oi the food as purchased and that of 
the food as eaten would almost seem to have been ignored by Professor Starl- 
ing. Langworthy says: '"The waste in the average American home ranges 
from nothing to as high as 20 per cent, of the food purchased. A fair ai 
would be about 10 per cent." In Atwater's tables of the energy values of 
different kinds of food, allowance is made for the refuse, e.g., bone and skin 
of meat, shells of eggs, peelings of vegetables, in food as purchased. For 
example, the refuse of a chuck-rib of lean beef is 23 per cent., of ox-tail 30 
per cent., of chicken 42 per cent., of fruits and vegetables up to 60 per cent., 
and so on. But, of course, no allowance is made for food, such as fat, left 
on the plate, or fat which sticks to the frying pans and baking dishes, and 
is washed away through the sink, or of stale bread which is thrown out, 
and may or may not be partly recovered after transformation into eggs or 
fowl flesh.- According to the Eltzbacher report, Rubner demonstrated that 
20 grams of fat per head of the population appeared daily in the Berlin 
sewers.* As a gram of fat has an energy-value of 9 3 Calories, this waste 
alone represents about 5 per cent, of the total daily consumption of Calories 
per head. The table and kitchen wastes of a boarding-house in Connecticut 
were found on analysis by Atwater to contain 11 per cent, of the whole 
nutritive material of the food purchased. They included 20 per cent, of the 
protein and fats and 5 per cent, of the carbohydrates.t Analyses show 
generally that far more waste occurs in the case of the fats and proteins 
than in the case of the carbohydrates. Although Langworthy says there is 
no waste at all in some American homes, it would seem that some waste is 
almost unavoidable. Perhaps, in view of the stringent cirotfmstanc 
which the Inter-Allied Food Commission deliberated, the difference between 
the energy-value of food as purchased and of food as eaten was deliberately 
and advisedly ignored. The time was no time for waste. 

The prevention of waste calls for demands on the housekeeper's time, 
whether she does her own work or superintends it. The law of diminishing 
returns applies to the prevention of waste as to other activities. Dp to 
some point the prevention of waste yields a positive saving. Beyond that 
point the labour of preventing the waste may be more profitably employed 

* " Germany's Food : Can it Last ? " Bv Russell Wells and Waller. London, 1915. 
p. 190. 

| " Fonds : Nutritive Value ami Cost." By Professor Atwater. Farmers' Bulletin, 
No. 23, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, 1894. 



9 

in some other activity. Langworthy allows 10 per cent., and then devote* 
a chapter to urging more scientific and careful management. Perhaps, on 
the whole, it would be wise to put a premium on careful management by 
allowing, say, 5 per cent., or at any rate something less than so large an 
amount as 10 per cent. Even so, Langworthy 's energy-value of food, as 
purchased, for a man in full vigour at moderate muscular work, is about 
S,650 Calories. 

The energy requirements of a man with moderate muscular work stated 
by Langworthy are 9 per cent, greater than those stated by his predecessor, 
Atwater. In 1S94 Atwater published the following dietary standards: — * 

Table 111. 

Calories. 

Man with little physical exercise 2,150 

Man with light muscular work 2,800 

Man with moderate muscular work 3,520 

Mail with active muscular work 4,060 

Man with hard muscular work 5,700 

In the course of his investigations he found that the diet of blacksmiths 
in Lowell had an energy-value of 6,900 Calories, that of 237 brickmakers 
>\t very severe work in Massachusetts had a value of 8,850 Calories, while the 
average of five dietaries of professional men and college students in Con- 
necticut was 4.14i» Calories as purchased, of which 5 per cent, was wasted. 
Voit gave dietary standards as follows: — ■ 

Tabus IV. 

Calories. 

Average man . . 3,055 

Soldier, manoeuvres 3,348 

Soldier, war-time 3.575 

Professor Starling, in his monograph, "The Feeding of Nations," quotes 
the statistics of Rowntree. Rowntree found that the average consumption 
of the English working-man earning more than 26s. per week in pre-war 
times was .'5,390 Calories, and that of the average man in the servant- 
keeping household 3,807 Calories. Professor Starling draws particular 
attention to the diet of a hostel for munition workers during the war, 
where detailed records of food consumption were reliably kept. The diet 
there averaged 3,951 Calories per man. Laborious direct determinations 
by Professor Cathcart of the energy output of recruits, mostly young, 
in training, showed the need for a minimum daily ration of 3,750 Calories, 
and Professor Starling states that a ration of 3,800 Calories was adopted 
by the Inter- Allied Food Commission as a fair average for all classes of 
soldiers and sailors in the United Kingdom. For French soldiers and 
sailors 3,700 was the figure adopted. 

For comparison with these direct determinations of the energy needs of 
groups or classes of persons, the average national consumption is most, 
important. The committee of the Royal Society which, at the request of the 
Board of Trade, reported on the Food Supply of the United Kingdom in 
1917,f from the statistics of total consumption in a period of five years 
before the war (1909-13), found that the average consumption per head 
was equivalent to 3,091 Calories daily. Using Atwater's coefficients for the 
relative energy requirements of men, women, and children of various ages, 

•"Foods: Nutritive Value and Cost." By Professor Atwater. Farmers' Bulletin 
No. 23, U S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1894. 
t Cd. 8421. . 



10 

they found that this gross ration was equivalent to 4,U09 Calories per man. 
Had Professor Lusk's coefficients been used the gross ration would have 
been equivalent to 3,700 Calories per man. The committee also gave in 
their report the calculations made by Professor Thompson which showed a 
gross ration equivalent to 2,980 Calories per head, or 3,864 Calories per 
man using Atwater's coefficients, or 3,570 Calories per man using Lusk's 
coefficients.* These gross values are somewhat lower than those given in 
an earlier estimate made by Professor Thompson in an article contributed 
to "Mature" of 17th February, 191G. The gross values •'available for 
consumption " are subject to a deduction for loss in distribution In the 
article abovementioned Professor Thompson states that such losses are 
placed between 5 per cent, and 10 per cent. If such a deduction is made it 
appears that, using Lusk's coefficients, the average consumption per man 
in the United Kingdom in pre-war times of food as purchased lay some- 
where between 3,200 and 3,520 Calories. In France, before the war, Pro- 
fessor Starling says the gross ration per man was 3,800 Calories (based 
doubtless on Atwater's coefficients), exclusive of cottage and garden pro- 
duction. The latter the Eoyal Society Committee estimated for the 
United Kingdom at about 200 Calories per man if farm produce consumed 
by producers be included, and Professor Thompson, excluding such farm 
produce, estimated the cottage produce at about 60 Calories per man. The 
average consumption in France appears, therefore, to have been similar to 
that in the United Kingdom. The gross consumption per head of popula- 
tion in Germany of food as digestible was 3,642 Calories.f Allowing Lang- 
worthy's 9 per cent, difference between food as digested and food a3 
purchased, this is equivalent to about 3,970 Calories per head as purchased, 
or using Lusk's coefficients, 4,750 Calories per man. If the mean — 7i per 
cent. — of Professor Thompson's limits for the loss in distribution be taken, 
this becomes 4,400 Calories per man. About one-seventh of this by weight 
was fat, and Rubner's conclusion with regard to the wasted fat in the Berlin 
sewers has already been noted. However, it appears that before the war 
the average German consumed more Calories than the average Briton or 
Frenchman. 

The extensive household budget inquiry carried out by the U.S. Bureau 
of Labour Statistics in 1918-19, which covered nearly 13,000 families in 
ninety-two towns and cities in the United States, has been analysed M 
regards diet by Professor Ogburn4 The method of survey was such that 
usually the agent could obtain accurately from the housewives information 
with regard to the amount and price of the 145 articles of food Bcheduled, 
only for a short period, such as a week, and had to compute the yearly con- 
sumption by multiplication, due consideration being given to Beasonal varia- 
tions and family circumstances. The work was done however, states Pro- 
fessor Ogburn, with extreme care, and the results may be accepted M 
accurate within a narrow margin of error if the survey be regarded 
eost-of-living study and not a dietary study. ij Professor Ogburn states that 
it seems impossible to get some single unit of measurement for the adequacy 
of diet. A partial solution at least is, hovfever. he considers, afforded by the 
fact that those dietaries of the survey which yield 3,500 Calorie- per man 
per day are usually abundant and varied enough to be fairly well ball 
and fairly adequate in the amounts of the necessary constituents. Pro- 



* See also " The Feeding of Nations," p. 44, where Starling gi\es 3,600 Calories using 
Link's coefficients. 

t " ( iennany's Food; Can it Last?" p. To ; and "The Food Supply of the United 
Kingdom,'' Part I, Appendix III. [Cd. 8421.]. 

:% Monthly Labour I'evUn; U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics, Aug., 1919. 

§ Ibid., p. 2. 



11 



fessor Ogburn quotes tho results of a study* of the food consumed in train- 
ing camps for soldiers in the United States, which showed an average 
energy-value of 3,900 Calories per man per day, including food consumed 
outside the messes. Professor Ogburn comments on the range of energy- 
value which was obtained for the same average expenditure. The coloured 
families of New Orleans get more Calories for their money than do the 
white families. If the food consists largely of cereals and fat meat the 
energy -value will be very high for the cost, while if much lean meat is con- 
sumed the energy-value will be very low for the cost. Professor Ogburn 
used the coefficients of relative consumption of men, women, and children 
adopted by the U.S. Bureau of Statistics. Had Professor Lusk's co- 
efficients been adopted he would have arrived at about 3,200 Calories per 
man instead of 3,500. 

Variability of Energy Requirements. 
The great variability of energy requirements among individuals, of which 
Table I and others afford evidence, is well brought out in a recent investiga- 
tion by Carl Tigerstedt. Thus among sixty-four men the gross energy 
requirements varied from 4,612 to 1,942 Calories, the average being 3,406 
Calories per day. The following table shows the distribution: — 

Table V. 
Frequency of Energy Kequirements of Various Amounts. 



Amount in Calorics. 


No. of men. 


Por cent, of total 
number of mou. 


Greater than 4,500 


3 
11 
12 
16 

18 
3 

1 


4-7 


4,O0U— 4,500 


17-2 


3,500— 4,000 


18-8 


3,000—3,500 


250 


2,500—3,000 


4 J8 1 


2,000—2,500 


4-7 


Less than 2,000 


16 






Total 


61 


100 







In a recent series of experiments on basal metabolism by Harris and 
Benedict! 136 men were studied. They varied considerably in stature and 
age. The basal metabolism varied from 997 to 2,559 Calories per day, and 
the average was 1,632 Calories per day. This average is rather less than the 
value taken by Professor Starling. Harris and Benedict propounded a new 
formula for basal metabolism which contained a term corresponding to the 
age of the person considered. In view of this great variability among 
individuals Professor Starling states that any rationing scheme must fail 
if it comprises all the chief kinds of food. Latitude must be left for the 
satisfaction of individual needs by leaving some important item unrationed. 
He recommends bread for this purpose. Although this Board takes a specific 
dietary scale as a basis for its assessment, it does not, of course, ration the 
articles included in that scale. It is the price of a certain adequate diet 
which is distributed as part of the wage, and the recipient of that price 
is not restricted to the particular diet which forms the basis of the assess- 
ment. The recipient is, of course, restricted by the total price, but it will 

* " Preliminary Results of Nutritional Surveys in U.S. Army Camps," Merlin and 
Miller, American Journal of Public Health, Jure, 1919. 

t " A Biometric Study of Basal Metabolism in Man," by Harris and Benedict, Carnegi& 
Institute,. Washington, 1919, pp. 40 et seq. 



12 

be shown, at a later stage, that a wide range of Calorific values can bo 
obtained with that price while maintaining reasonable proportions between 
the proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. 

Nutritive Constituents of Food. 
For the determination of energy-values, food is analysed into proteins, 
fats, and carbohydrates. Protein is a term used to include nominally the 

total nitrogenous substance of food materials excluding the BO-called 
nitrogenous fats. Actually it is employed to designate the product of the 
total nitrogen by an empirical factor, generally 6-25*. "A man's DA 
protein means nothing else than need of building material, and the neces- 
sity for a supply of protein only comes into consideration so far as it provide- 
building material. In this particular, protein cannot be replaced by any 
other nutrient/'t " The proteins supplied over and above the actual require^ 
ments for building do not build additional body tissue, but provide en< 
which could be at least as well provided by other nutrients, i.e., carbohy- 
drates or fats.":}: " Voit has allowed 104 to 1UG grams of digestible protein 
for a man weighing 70 kilograms (as he was reckoning in crude protein he 
put it at 118 grams). This high figure is purposely chosen, because he be- 
lieved that on the basis of a normal diet we could easily exceed our require- 
ments and because we must, above all, see to it that there is no danger of too 
small a supply of protein; the figure represents the consumption of protein 
to be recommended rather than that vitally necessary."§ According to Voit, 
then, 89 per cent, of the protein is digested. Benedict, || however, giv< 
per cent. Langworthy^f gives 92 per cent. "In the meantime, statistical 
material has considerably increased. In 1902 Neumann made a summary of 
the literature, with the result that in the case of 111 out of 245 individuals 
(i.e., 58-8 per cent.), and m the case of thirty-seven out of sixty-two families 
or larger groups (i.e., 59 7 per cent.), the supply of protein was below V 
figure. An average of all 307 observations gives for a person weighing 7" 
kilograms a consumption of about 98 grams of digestible protein ( 109 7 
grams crude protein); an average of the 181 cases in which the supply of 
protein was below Voit's standard gives a Consumption of about 71 grams 
digestible protein (80-2 grams crude protein). In 1913 Schumburg, after 
consideration of numerous later researches, came to the conclusion that most 
people in Germany and America can manage with 70 grams of digestible 
protein for moderate work."** Thus the Germans went to great pains to 
prescribe a proper amount of protein. Professor Starling, however, quotes 
Bayliss' dictum: " Take care of the Calories and the proteins will take care 
of themselves." Professor Chittenden, a more recent authority than sen 
those quoted in the above extracts from the Eltzbacher Report, who, with 
Professor Lusk, represented America on the Inter-Allied Food Commission, 
has attracted particular attention by his continual attacks en the view- 
generally accepted until recent times that dietetic customs and habits form 
the best guide to the food requirements of the body, lie has carried out 
extensive researches showing that in the average man nitrogen equilibrium 
can be maintained with an intake of 50 or 60 grains of protein daily. u Any 
habitual excess of food, over and above what is really needed to meet the 
actual wants of the body, is not only uneconomical, but may be distinctly 
disadvantageous. Voit. among others, has clearly emphasised the general 

• "The Chemical Composition of Food Materials," by Atwater and Bryant, Bulletin 
No. 28 (Revised Edition), U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1902. 

t Eltzbacher Report, English Translation, p. 2'J. 

t Ibid. p. 30. 

§ Ibid. ]). 32. 

II Amfrican Journal of Physiology, XVI, 400, 1908. 

*1T "Food Customs and Diet in American Homes." Circular 110. Ollice of Experiment 
Stations, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1911. 

** Eltzbacher Report. English Translation, p. 33. 



13 

principle that the smallest amount of proteid. with non-nitrogenous food 
added, that will- suffice to keep the body in a state of continual vigour is the 
ideal diet. My own conception of the true food requirements of the body has 
been expressed in the statement tliat man needs of proteids, fats, and 
carbohydrates sufficient to establish and maintain physiological and nitro- 
gen equilibrium; sufficient to keep up that strength of body and mind that 
is essential to good health, to maintain the highest degree of physical and 
mental activity with the smallest amount of friction and the least expendi- 
ture of energy, and to preserve and heighten, if possible, the ordinary re- 
sistance of the body to disease germs. The smallest amount of food that 
will accomplish these ends is, I think, the ideal diet. There must truly beenough 
- pply the real needs of the body, but any great surplus over and above 
what is actually called for may in the long run prove an undesirable addi- 
tion."" The physiological optimum is. therefore, according to Chittenden, the 
physiological minimum. Chittenden's view is supported by Benedict, whose 
recent investi ga tions have been widely quoted. "Food," says Benedict, 
"should be ingested in just the proper amount to repair the waste of the 
body; to furnish it with the energy it needs for work and warmth; to maintain 
it in vigour ; and, in the case of immature animals, to provide the proper excess 
for normal growth : in order to be of most advantage to the body." Professor 
Chittenden draws attention to the effect of false theories on dietetic customs. 
" Ever since Liebig advanced his theory that proteid material is the sole source 
of muscular energy there has been a deep-rooted belief that meat is the most 
efficient kind of food for keeping up the strength of the body, and hence 
\ally demanded by all whose work is mainly physical. Although this 
view has been thoroughly disproved, the idea is still more or less generally 
held that an abundance of meat is a necessary requisite for a good day's 
work, a view which undoubtedly accounts in some measure for the tendency 
towards a high proteid intake. "f Much assistance towards the maintenance 
of this view in Australia is provided by the advertisers of certain patent 
"foods" who propound on enormous hoardings the efficacy of quintessences 
of big and little bovine animals for keeping away the doctor. The scientists, 
or. say that such extracts and essences should be regarded as mere 
sauces whose nutritive value is negligible. For instance, rats which were fed 
on -i grams of meat extract daily, died quite as soon as other rats which got 
no food at all. They are not stimulants; 2 oz. of Liebig's extract can be 
taken at one time by a healthy man without effect on the force or rapidity 
of the pulse, without, indeed, producing any effect other than slight 
diarrhoea. Used in small quantities they may aid digestion, just as mint 
sauce with lamb or spices with veal may render those immature meats more 
appetising; they may even prove to contain vitamines; but their actual 
nutrient qualities may be gauged by the fact that 1 lb. of dried extract, even 
of those brands which contain meat fibre, contains but little more than half 
the amount of protein which is contained in 1 lb. of plain dried lean meat4 
Professor Lusk supports Chittenden's view. " Experiments in my labora- 
tory show," he says, u that if meat in large quantity is given, the extra 
heat production following upon work amounts not only to the quantity 
demanded for the work accomplished, but also there is added the con- 
siderable quantity of heat produced by the stimulation of metabolism 
through the substances formed in the breakdown of the protein. Meat, 
therefore, is not the great provider of energy for the accomplishment of 
mechanical work, but rather carbohydrate food, such as bread, macaroni, 
and rice, all of which are found in the dinner pail of the labourer. These 

* "The Nutrition of Man." Chittenden, London 1907, p. 15S. 

+ Ibid. p. 161. 

% "Food and the Principles of Dietetics," Hutchison, London, 1916, pp. 92, et *<?j. 



14, 

furnish fuel without waste, fuel for the accomplishment of the day's work. 
Fat undoubtedly behaves in similar fashion, though experiments to demon- 
strate this have not yet been instituted. Meat in quantity is not necessary 
for the maintenance of vigorous muscular power. It is gratifying to the 
palate, but Chittenden has been justified in his belief that small quantities 
only are essential to repair the wear and tear on the protein content of the 
organism."* . , _ , 

Eefcrence mav be made to Table I for information os to tho actual 
amounts of protein consumed by men of different races and occupations. 

Langworthyf lays down the following standard of protein consumption :— 
Protein Requirements of Man in Full Vigour at Moderate Muscular Work. 

Grams of Protein. 

Food as purchased 115 

Food eaten 10 ° 

Food digested 95 

This amount is greatly in excess of what is regarded as the physiological 
optimum by Chittenden. It is practically identical with Voit's standard 
for the average man, viz., 118 grams. Professor Starling agrees with 
Chittenden that 30 or 40 grams of protein per day would probably suffice. 
provided that the protein is of the proper constitution. Professor Lusk 
acknowledges the contributions of Dr. Mendel to research in this direction, 
and repeated in 1917 the view which he expressed a year before at the 
Washington Academy of Sciences to the effect that the Government should 
compel manufacturers to place on each can, package, or barrel of food sold 
not only the energy value of the contents, but also information showing 
the grade of the protein, if any, contained.:}: 

The remarks of Langworthy made after a study of the diet of all races, 
including Eskimos, American and Asiatic Indians, Arabs and Chin* - 
well as modern Americans and Europeans, may weigh with this Board 
against the adoption of any revolutionary diet which may be put forward 
as representing dietary customs and habits peculiar to Australia. Lang- 
worthy says, " It is generally true that the more we learn about diet in 
remote regions, and about the kinds and amounts of food eaten, the fewer 
the anomalies which are found, and the closer the resemblance to more 
familiar conditions, particularly when comparisons are made on a fair basis 
as regards age, body weight, and the amount of work done."§ 

A gram of protein gives 41 Calories. A gram of carbohydrate gives 
41 Calories. A gram of fat gives 9-3 Calories. 

Very lean rump of beef contains, as purchased, according t<> At water. 
14 per cent, of refuse, Gl per cent, of water, 19 per cent, of protein, 5 per 
cent, of fat, and 1 per cent, of ash, and 1 lb. of it, as purchased, provides 
f>55 Calories of energy. Fat rump contains, as purchased, 23 per cent of 
refuse, 3G per cent, of water, 13 per cent, of protein, 27 per cent <»t" fat. and 
1 per cent, of ash, and 1 lb. of it, as purchased, provides 1,405 Calories 
of energy. A pound of butter provides 3,000 Calories. A pound <.f Aus- 
tralian white wheaten bread, a good loaf of which, according t<» the 
Government Statistician, contains 40 per cent, of water, and therefore con- 
siderably more water than American broad, j| provides about 1,120 Calories. 

* " Food Values " by Prof. Lusk, Science CScw York), April 13, 1917. 

+ " Food Customs and Diet in American Homes," 191 1, p. 19. 

t Science (New York) N.S. Vol, XLV, No. 1163 ; 13th April, 1917. 

§ " Food Customs and Diet in American Homes," 1911, p. 10. 
In "Food and How to Save it" F.K. 77, published by Ministry of Food, London, 191^, 
bread is analysed into 9% protein, 1% fat, fi.3% carbohydrate, giving t ,£00 Calories per lb. 
Hutchison says that several samples of white bread analysed by him contained 
-water, and about 1,120 Calories per lb.— " Food and the Principles of Dietetics," J. 
1910, p. 202, 



15 

^Six-sevenths of the nutritive content of bread is carbohydrate, the rest 
being protein with a very small quantity of fat. A pound of oatmeal 
provides 1,860 Calories. The nutritive content of oatmeal is analysed into 
carbohydrate 74 per cent., protein IS per cent., fat 8 per cent. It is obvious 
that if a man needs 3,500 Calories he can get it in various ways. Thus 
2 lb. of oatmeal, costing about Is., or 2 lb. of sugar (pure carbohydrate) 
for Is., will provide rather more than the necessary amount. A pound of 
butter for about 2s. Gd., or a pound of suet for about Is., will suffice. The 
need can nearly be satisfied with about 3 lb. of bread for 9d. On the other 
hand, if he prefers the flesh-pots he can take about 5 lb. of lean, or more 
than 6 lb. of very lean, or 2* lb. of fat, rump steak costing anything from 
3s. 6d. to Ss. 6d. 

Carbohydrates are, on the whole, the cheapest energy producers; fat from 
tho carcases of animals is as cheap, but fat in tho form of butter is more 
than twice as dear; while energy from animal protein derived from rump 
steak is about ten times as dear if the small amount of fat associated 
with very loan meat is assumed to be eaten, and about fifteen times as dear 
if this fat be discarded. As between fat from the carcases of animals and 
cereals, which contain so much carbohydrate, the advantage rests with the 
cereals on account of the considerable proportions of protein and fat con- 
tained by some of them, particularly oatmeal. Xo single animal or vege- 
table product, indeed, approaches oatmeal as a food. Oatmeal with milk 
is the food of the Scottish labourer. There are, however, limits to the 
replacement of fats by carbohydrates. Professor Starling says that some 
fat is necessary, otherwise there is excessive breakdown of proteins in the 
body, and poisoning results. Owing to their cheapness it is not necessary 
to provide a minimum for carbohydrates. But, he continues, provision of 
sufficient fat has proved to be in practice one of the most difficult problems. 
Fat is highly assimilable and almost entirely absorbed from the alimentary 
canal. It has the following advantages over carbohydrate: — (1) It is 
digested and absorbed more slowly than carbohydrate. Most of the latter 
is absorbed within three hours after the meal, while the most intense 
absorption of fat occurs at five or six hours after the meal. A meal lacking 
in fat, therefore, causes a deficiency in staying power. This is shown by 
direct experiment. Examination of the dietaries of very heavy workers, 
e.g.,. lumbermen in Sweden and Canada, consuming up to 8,000 Calories 
per day, shows that this great increase is due to fat not to protein. 
Canadian lumbermen live largely on pork and beans. The Welsh miners 
complained during the war of weakness during the latter portion of the 
shift. It was found that owing to shortage of fat they were unable to take 
to the mines the rich home-made pastry to which they had been accustomed. 
(2) The question of bulk is also most important in determining the need 
for fat. The human alimentary canal (at any rate in our race) has been 
developed so as to cope with a diet in which 20 to 25 per cent, of the energy 
is presented in the form of fat. In order to get the same energy from 
carbohydrate the canal would have to be much larger. Ordinarily a person 
deprived of fat diminishes his total intake and lives on a lower metabolic 
level. It was notable that during the shortage of fat in the United King- 
dom in early 1918 there was no appreciable increase in the consumption of 
cereals. (3) Carbohydrates are more subject to fermentation, and there- 
fore more productive of digestive disorders than fats. 

In another place Professor Starling points out that one of those most 
important, but little-known substances, the vitamines, is present in the fat 
of milk and the fat of fresh meat. 

Pat, he concludes, is an essential ingredient of the diet. The Japanese 
soldier is said to be content with 20 grams daily, the Italian labourer with 



16 

less than 60 grams. The child at the breast takes 50 per cent, of its nutri- 
ment in the form of fat. A series of diets by Tigerstedt and by Atwater 
for men of different occupations show that the energy derived from fat 
varied from 18 4 per cent, in an insufficient diet to 89-7 per cent Taking 
only the adequate diets, Professor Starling concludes that about one-fourth 
of the total Calories should be in fat. The normal diet of the average man, 
with a Calorie value of 3,300, should contain at least 75 grams of fat per 
day, and the proportion of Calories derived from fat to the total Cal 
may, he considers, be increased to 35 per cent, without harm, or perhaps 
with advantage; the fat ration should always be high if the energy expendi- 
ture of the body is high owing either to hard work or exposure to cold.* 

It may be noted, however, that while 1 gram of fat is equal to _} grams 
of carbohydrate in energy value, yet 1 gram of fat is but scvcn-nint 
effective as 2i grains of carbohydrate in protein-sparing power. Therefore, 
if the proportion of fat in a diet of given energy value lie increased, the 
proportion of protein must also be increased. Examination of freely-C 
diets shows that this is actually done.f 

To illustrate the wide variations in the composition of diets of men at 
moderate and hard work, particularly in regard to fat, the results of 
studies of English munition workers, American athletes. Swedish mechanics, 
and of a Japanese jinrikisha man. aged 33 years, and weighing within 
2 lb. of 10 stone, are shown in the following table: — 

Table VI. 
Composition of Diets of Men at Moderate and Hard Work. 







Food consumed. 


Value. 




Protein. Fat. 


Carbohydrate. 


English Munition Workers, 1917 T 

Rowing Clubs in New England § 


Grams. 
116 
155 
186 

226 
189 
158 


Grams. 
141 
177 
1S6 

354 
110 
26 


Grama. 
408 
440 
651 

634 
714 


Calories. 
3,486 

3,955 
5,005 


Football teams in Connecticut and 


6,590 




4,590 


Japanese Jinrikisha man|| 


1,031 


5,0.30 

- 



The earlier standards of Munk, Wolff, Voit, Rubner, Playfair, and 
Moleschott for an active man at moderate muscular work were very similar. 
They averaged 121 grams of protein, 48 grams of fat. and 522 grmaa of 
carbohydrate, making in all 3,083 Calories. Atwater broke away from this 
tradition by prescribing 125 grams of protein, 125 grama of fat, and 1"><» 
grams of carbohydrate, having a total energy value of 3.520 Calories. 

That Professor Starling's minimum of 7". grams of fat per man per 
day is exceedingly low in comparison with actual facta is clear from the 
Keport on the Food Supply of the United Kingdom, 1917. It i- -fated 
in that report that the quantities of foodstuffs available during the period 
1909-13 were, per man, 113 gram- <>!' protein, l-".'> grama <>f fat. and .".71 
grams of carbohydrate. This include- loss in distribution and waste after 
purchase by the consumer. The minimal physiological standard laid down 
in that report is 100 grains .if protein, 100 grams of fat. and .".no grams "f 



The Feeding of Nations," Starling, London, 1919. 



7, p. 

9. <M. 



8798. 



t Summary of L8.000 ci«ea by l>r. Leonard Hill Memo, on Worker*' Food, v 
§ Farmer* Bulletin, Ko. 142, p 84, r.s. Department <•( Agriculture. 
"Digest of Japanese Investigations on Nutrition of Man," bj Oshiraa, Director of Agricultural 
Experiment Station, Japan ; putilishcl Washington, 1905, p. LS I. 



17 

carbohydrate, giving about 3,400 Calories per day. The amount of fat 
available for consumption in Germany before the war was about 150 grams 
per man per day. This amount was considered excessive and wasteful, and 
it was recommended in the Eltzbacher Report that 40 grains of fat be 
replaced by 90 grams of carbohydrate.* 

The analysis by Professor Ogburn of the diet of families included 
in the survey carried out by the United States Bureau of Labour 
Statistics, referred to above, shows that for selected families whose 
diet averaged in energy-value about 3,500 Calories per man per day, 
lculated from the coefficients used by the United States Bureau 
of Statistics, the average consumption of protein was 104 grams, of fat 120 
grams, and of carbohydrate 483 grams. Had Professor Lusk's coefficients 
of the relative consumption of men, women, and children been adopted the 
results would hare been about 9 per cent. less. Among the results given 
by Professor Ogburn for separate localities are the following: — 

Composition of Food in Different Localities in United States, Cost of 
Living Survey, 1918-19. 



Local it}". 


Beams per man per day. 


Calories. 


Protein. Fat. 


Carbohydrates. 




87 
104 
95 


132 

104 
112 


471 3,430 
516 3,420 


New Orleans (white) 




507 3.410 









The geographical latitude of Xew Orleans is about 30 degrees and that 
of Atlanta about 33 degrees. That of Sydney is about 34 degrees. Apart 
from Atlanta and Xew Orleans, the variation in the consumption of protein 
by families in this study consuming about 3,500 Calories per man (as cal- 
culated with the Bureau's coefficients) was from 97 grams at Seattle to 
117 grams at Boston. The consumption of fat varied from 106 grams at 
Boston to 129 grams at Denver, San Francisco, and Oakland, and the con- 
sumption of carbohydrates varied from 441 grams at Xew York to 514 at 
St. Louis. The narrow range of the results' from studies covering localities 
so widely distributed geographically is remarkable. The proportions of the 
constituents of the average of these American diets were, by weight:— 
protein, 14-7 per cent.; fat, 170 per cent.; carbohydrate, 68-3 per cent.; and 
by energy value: — protein, 11-9 per cent.; fat, 31-8 per cent.; carbohydrate. 
56-3 per cent. 

Professor ATcCollum, of the School of Hygiene and Public Health, John 
Hopkins University, says " it is a common misconception that the 
people in the warmer regions of the world do not eat liberally of fats. They 
consume more fats than do the peoples living in temperate regions. This 
is purely a matter of convenience, and came about through the relative 
abundance in the tropics of oil-rich fruits and nuts. The temperate regions 
produce the cereals and other crops which are with few exceptions rich in 
carbohydrates and poor in fats. Man has adapted himself to the character 
of the foods which he has found available, and through long usage certain 
dietary habits have become fixed.''! 



* Eltzbacher Eeport, p. 1S9. et seq. 

t "The World's Food" — Proceedings of Conference held by American Academy 
of Political and Social Science. Vol. 74/163, p. 96. 



IS 

Accessory Food Substances (Vitamincs). 

There are several substances whose nature is as yet unknown which must 
be present in the diet if an animal is to grow and to remain healthy. 
Professor Starling describes them as follows: — Three classes have been 
distinguished — (1) A water-soluble substance present in oranges, tasnons, 
fresh green vegetables, in roots and tubers, in small quantities in meat and 
milk, the absence of which causes scurvy. (2) A substance present in the 
husks of rice and in grains, in yeast and in eggs, in the absence of which 
beri-beri may develop. (3) A fat-soluble substance present in the fats of 
milk and of fresh meat, and possibly also in green vegetables, which is 
essential if growth is to be normally carried out. These substances are 
destroyed by prolonged heating, as in cooking or stewing, by drying, and 
by various other manipulations. Artificially-prepared foods should not be 
allowed to constitute too large a proportion of the diet. For example, white 
bread, polished rice, the majority of patent breakfast foods, preserved meat! 
and vegetables, and dried fruits lack vitamincs. Xo diet is satisfactory 
unless it contains fresh fruits and vegetables. If margarine, artificially 
prepared from vegetable fats and deficient in vitamines, forms an important 
item in the diet, it is more than ever essential that milk or milk fat should 
be provided for children. The three main preoccupations of the controlling 
authority after providing the Calories will be the maintenance of a mini- 
mum fat supply, the safeguarding of supplies of milk for children, and the 
production and distribution of fresh vegetable food.* 

Mineral Constituents of Food. 

If a diet does not provide the necessary number of Calories, or if. while 
providing the Calories, it does not provide the proteins, fats, and carbo- 
hydrates in rational proportions, then it fails outright. Again, vitamines 
are regarded by the world's authorities as of so great importance that 
Professor Starling asserts that after providing the Calories the main business 
is to provide fat, milk, and fresh vegetables, all of which are important 
sources of these mysterious substances or factors. 

The urgency of these considerations has led to the use of the word 
" nutritive " in the preceding sections in a somewhat restricted - 
Everyone knows, however, that the bones of human beings and other animals 
contain lime and phosphorus, and, as the whole organism is ever in a state 
of flux, the question naturally arises in the mind of the plain man whether 
the skeleton needs nourishment as well as the flesh. Do we take in nur 
diet enough lime or phosphorus or iron or other minerals? 

Now that the question of Calories has become more settled, and since 
physiological opinion has begun to stabilise itself somewhere between the 
high and the low protein schools, the so-called mineral metabolism of man 
has received more attention.f Dietary studies show that the greatest risk 
of mineral deficiency is in the calcium content of the diet. Sherman and 
Gillet in a recent monograph,:}: summarising the results of their study of 

* "The Feeding of Nations," by K. H. Starling, C.M.G., M.1>., &.\. Chairman 
of Royal Society Food Committee, Hon. Science Adviser to Ministry of Food, Member 
of Inter- Allied Scientific Food Commission. 

t See " Calcium, Magnesium and Phosphorus in Food and Nutrition " — Bulletin 227, 
Office of Experiment Stations, U.S. Dept. of Agric, 1910 : " The Nutrition of Man," by 
Professor Lusk. 

t " The Adequacy and Economy of Some City Dietaries,'" by Sherman and Gillet. 
New York, 1917. 



19 



the diets of 102 families in New York and other American cities, conclude* 
that •' next to energy, calcium deficiency seems to oiler the largest problem." 
They quote Professor Mendel, of Yale, to the effect that his recent nutrition 
experiments showed that animals may be in excellent nutritive condition, 
in so far as protein is concerned, for long periods of time, while they are 
still losing calcium from their bones, and that it then happens that suddenly 
a collapse comes for which there is frequently no obvious explanation. In 
an important bulletin of the United States Department of Agriculture* 
it is concluded that typical American family dietaries are frequently 
deficient in calcium. 

If the protein allowance in the diet is reasonably liberal, there appears 
to be little risk of deficiency in phosphorus and iron, but the case of calcium 
i9 more difficult. The American standards of calcium intake vary from 0-7 
to 1 gram of calcium oxide per man per day. Gautier, in France, and Albu 
and Neuberg, in Germany, hold, however, that the diet should furnish at 
least 1 to 15 grams of calcium oxide per man per day. The following table, 
derived from the monograph and bulletin referred to above, shows the 
percentage of calcium oxide, and the amount in grams, contained in 1 lb. 
of various food materials: — 



TABLE VIa. 

Amount of Calcium Oxide in Edible Portion of certain Food Materials. 



Food material. 



Calcium oxide. 


I'er cent. 


Grams in 1 1T>. 


i-24 


5-6 


•51 


23 


•36 


16 


•35 


1-6 


•30 


14 


•58 


13 


•26 


1-2 


•22 


1-0 


•17 


•8(a) 


•17 


•8 


•10 


•5(b) 


■09 


•4 


•09 


•4 


•03 


•4 


•08 


•4 


•08 


•4 


• -06 


•3 


•05 


•2 


•04 


•2 


•03 


•1 


•02 


•1 


•00 


•o 



Cheese 

Turnip tops (greens) 

Molasses , 

Gelatine 

Almonds 

Figs, dried 

Watercress 

Beans, kidney and pea, dried 

Milk, whole 

Currants, dried 

Eggs 

Beans, Lima, dried 

Celery, turnips 

Oatmeal 

Peas, dried 

Parsnips, carrots 

Spinach, rhubarb, cabbage 

Lettuce, brussels sprouts 

Whole-meal bread, onions , 

Pumpkin 

White bread, lean meat, fish, potatoes 
Sugar, refined 



(a) A pint weighs about 1J lb. 



(b) An average egg weighs 2 i 



The table shows that a pound of cheese is worth a bushel of bread, meat, 
and potatoes for calcium. The despised turnip-top is eight times more valu- 
able in this respect than the aristocratic spinach. Treacle, gelatine, and 



* " Calcium, Magnesium and Phosphorus in Food and Nutrition " — Bulletin 227, Office 
of Experiment Stations, U S- Dept. of Agriculture, 1910. 



20 

water-cress hold very valuable percentages. The egg. even .it Is. Gd. per 
dozen, is an expensive source, half a dozen containing about as much as 
1 lb. of mixed turnips, carrots, and cabbage. 

In practice, milk is the chief source of calcium in the diet. 1) 
studies show that when the supply of milk is short the deficiency in calcium 
is usually large. A pint of fresh whole milk per man por day nearly pr. 
the standard gram. Therefore, in advising a plentiful milk 

especially as a source of vitamines. Professor Starling provided also for 
the calcium requirements. 



Energy Requirements of Women and Chxldn ». 

Owing to their smaller stature, the basal metabolism of women is less than 
that of men. Moreover. Du Bois and others have recently found that per unit 
of surface the basal metabolism of women is but 93 per cent, of that of men. 
The average energy requirements of women vary, according to Prof 
Starling, between 1,800 and 3,300 Calories according to occupation. 
According to the Eltzbacher report, the Calories required by needlewomen 
have been fixed at 2,000, by sewing-machinists and bookbinders at 2,100 to 
2,300, by domestic servants at 2.500 to 3,200, and by washerwomen al i 
to 3. Tun Calorie-. These are on the basis of food digested; 10 per cent, 
should be added to bring them to the basis of food as purchased, all 
nothing for waste. J' Starling, having taken th<- 

requirements of a man at 3,000 Calories, regards 2.4' >0 Oal< lEcient 

to meet the average requirements of a woman. To these he adds 1" per 
to allow for "the difference between food as purchased and food as 
Thus OS is the factor or coefficient regarded by him as fairly repesenting 
the average woman's energy requirements in terms of tbose of the average 
man. The Committee of the Royal Society which reported in 1017 on the 
Food Supply of the United Kingdom, adopting Atwater'a coeffic 
0-8 as the coefficient for the average woman. Professor ! 
which has been adopted by the Inter-Allied Seientific Food Commits: 
0-83. In Caleries the figures of that Commission are: — 

Man. Average Woman. 
Energy value of food as purchased . . 3, 2,750 Cal. 

A- regards children, the present tendency is to take higher coefficients 
their requirements than.in the past. Du Bois and others have recently found 
that per unit of body surface the basal metabolism of a child of • 
nearly half as great again as that of a man. L.>:icr ago Hippo 
'"Old men bear want of food best; then adults; youths bear it least, most 
especially children, and of them the most lively are least able to endur 
Tn an American boarding school the average diet of boys bad a value of 
5,000 Calories per day, including 800 Calories in chocolate bought by the 
boys. The diet of boy- in English public schools is liberal; nevertheless they 
are always capable of consuming considerable extras bought by themselves at 
the tuckshop. "There is no doubV - - •'■ i'u?. "that the 

allowance for children by Atwater was top low. but if we exclude the well- 
fed and over-exercised schoolboys of the wealthier en by 
Lusk may be accepted as sufficient to secure full health and development in 



21 



the groat mass of the population." The following table shows AtNyater's. 
Lang-worthy's, and Lusk's coefficients as well as those of Engel, Rubner, and 
Zuntz. The American household coefficients given in the ISth Annual 
Report of the Commissioner of Labour. Washington. 1904, and still used by 
the United States Bureau of Labour Statistics, are also included. It will 
be Been that these scales show a gradually improving treatment of the needs 
of the adolescent. 

Table YII. 

Scale of Requirement Units according to Sex and Age. 



(1 grown man = 100.) 
L'nits according to — 



En-el. 



American Lang- 
Houaehold.l worthy. 



Under 1 year 

1 year 

2 yean 

3 
4 
5 
6 



18 
19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 . 

25-29 years. 

60 and over. 



M. ft: F. 
286 
314 
34 3 
371 
40 
429 
45-7 
488 
514 
54-3 
67-1 
60 
62 9 
65 7 
68 8 
71-4 
74 3 
77-1 
80 
82 9 
8-5-7 



914 
943 
97 1 

100 
100 



85;; 
85 ' 
85-" 
85-' 
85 •' 
85-' 



M. ft F 


M. ft F. 


M. ft F. 


M. & F. 


M. & F. 




30 




20 




15 




30 


21 -8 


30 




30 




15 




30 


297 


40 




40 




la 




40 


35 4 


40 




40 




15 




40 


3S-8 


40 




40 




4C 




40 


42 3 


40 




ec 




40 


40 


43-7 


50 




50 


40 


50 


450 


50 




50 


75 


50 


46 1 


50 




50 


75 


50 


47-8 


50 




50 


75 


50 


49 2 


60 




75 


To 


60 


60 


544 


60 




7") 


90 


60 


no 


59 6 


61 




75 


90 


70 


60 


65 


60 




7o 


90 


80 


701 


70 6 


80 


7u 


75 


90 


80 


70: 


731 


80 


70 


100 


M 


100 


9( 


90 


80 ! 


75 7 


80 


70 


100 


80 


100 


'.10 


90 


soj 


78-4 


80 


7i 


100 


81 


100 


9C 


100 


83 


81-6 


K 10 


80 


100 


81 


1C0 


90 


100 


83 


100 


100 


80 


100 


Si 


100 


90 


, 100 


83 


100 


100 


80 


100 


80 


too 


90 


100 


83 


" 100 


100 


SO 


100 


80 


100 


9( 


100 


83 


• 100 


100 


8( 


100 


SO 


100 


90 


100 


S3 


1\ 100 


loo 


80 


100 


80 


100 


in 


100 


83 


7. 100 


100 


80 


100 


SO 


100 


ri( 


100 


83 


7! 100 


1(U 


80 


100 


80 


100 


90 


100 


83 


• 100 


100 


SO 


90 


80 


100 


90 


(a 


) 



M. & F. 
50 
50 
50 
50 
50 
50 
70 
70 
70 
70 
83 



83 
100 
1O0 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 



100 I 83 



100 

100 
100 
100 
100 



(a) The figure 83 in Langworthy's scale is found by taking the average of 
the following figures given by him: — 

Man, period of full vigour — 

At moderate work . . . . . . . . 100 

At hard work 120 

At sedentary occupation . . . . . . 80 

Woman, period of full vigour — 

At moderate work . . . . . . . . SO 

At hard work 100 

At sedentary occupation . . . . . . 70 

Langworthy gives also — 

Man or woman — 

Old age 90 

Extreme old age ' . . .... . . 70-80 



22 

Atwatcr's and Lusk's coefficients may be shown shortly as follows:— 
Table VIII. 
[■ Coefficients of Energy Kequirement according- to Sex and Ago. 



Age ast birthday. 



Atwater's coefficients 



0- 5 

6- 9 

10-13 

14-15 

16 and over 



Male and Female. 

04 

05 

06 
0-8 j 0-7 
1-0 I OS 



Age last birthday. 



Lusk's coefficients. 



0- 5 

6- 9 

10-13 

14 and over 



Male and Female. 

5 

0-7 

083 

1-0 | 0-83 



The following table shows the classification of the population of the United 
Kingdom in terms of food requirements made by Professor T. B. Wood,, 
who, with Professor Starling, represented the United Kingdom on the Inter- 
Allied Scientific Food- Commission.* 



Table IX. 

Classification of the Population of the United Kingdom in 1917-18 in 
Terms of Food Requirements. 



Class. 


Description. 


Man Number in Total man-valu» 
value. millions. in millions. 


III ... j 
VI 




133 


8 

111 

10J 
32 
5} 


465 


Men doing average work 


> ion 


8 00 


Women doing heavy work 

Men doing sedentary work 

Women doing average work 

Girls, growing, age 13-18 

Women doing sedentary work, or un- 
occupied. 
Children, age 10-13 


1 

[ -80 

l-« 

•50 
•40 


920 

700 






Children, age 0-6 


2 30 


Totals 






430 


18*00 







Average man-value of population per 100 = 



* " The National Food Supply in Peace and War," by T. B Wood, M.A., Drapers* 
Professor of Agriculture, Cambridge, 4c. : Cambridge, 1917. 



23 



In order to calculate the man-value of the requirements of thi9 Board's 
standard family of man, wife, and two children under the age of 14, we may 
take the frequency of children at various ages as shown at the census of 
1911. 

Table X. 

Adjusted Number of Persons under 14 in Age-Groups as at. the 

Census of 1911, New South Wales. 



Age last birthday. 


Number of persons. 


0-5 
6-9 





237,450 
133,200 


10-13 




124,300 








T 


494,950 









The standard family works out as follows: — ■ 

Table XI. 

New South Wales Board of Trade's Standard Family of Man, Wife,, and 

Two Average Children under 14 years of age, New South Wales, 1911. 



Members. 


Man- 


value by coefficients of— 


Atwater. 


Langwortby. 


Lusk. 




100 
80 
0-95 


1 00 
83 
0-95 


100 


Wife 


0-83 




1-27 






Total 


2-75 


278 


310 







Analysis of the Begimen hitherto adopted by New South Wales 
Board of Trade. 

The regimen adopted by this Board in its declaration of the 8th October, 
1919, is, in effect, six-sevenths of the dietary scale shown in Table XII fol- 
lowing. In order to calculate the proportions of protein, fat, and carbohy- 
drate, and the energy-value, use has been made of the values per unit of 
weight set out in the Report by the Committee of the Royal Society on the 
Food Supply of the United Kingdom, published in 1917 (Cd. 8,421), and 
of the original analyses by Professor Atwater, from which the Committee 
derived its values, in ■ The Chemical Composition of American Food 
Materials," Bulletin No. 28 (revised edition), U.S. Department of Agri- 
culture, published in 1902. Reference may also be made to the Appendix 
Tvhich shows the values adopted by the Inter-Allied Food Commission. 



24 



Table XII. 

Composition and Energy Value of a Dietary Scale. 

(The figures refer to foods as purchased by the consumer, all n fuse .-uch 
as bone, skin, and parings being allowed for.) 





Quantity. 


Amount of Nutrient-. 






Protein. 


Fat. 


CartM, hydrate. 


valut. 


Bread 


lb. 
20 


lb. lb. 
1 600 -200 


lb. 
10000 


Calories. 
22,440 





Meat :— 

(1) Very lean 4 ... 

(2) Leant 

(3) Medium fat* 



Butter . 
Oatmeal. 
Milk .... 
Sugar.... 
Jam 

Treacle . 
Rice ... 
Peas .... 



16 
16 
16 

3 

§13 

4 

2 
2 
2 



2.720 
2-480 

2-368 

•015 
•4S3 
•594 



-432 

1-6P6 
2 896 

1 -273 

•216 

•720 



Potatoes *" 14 

Raisins 1 

Tea * 

Suet 1 

Flour 4 

Condiments ** 

Fruit and Vegetables tr9 



•010 
•018 
•1G0 
•492 
•252 
023 



•C06 
020 
014 
•030 



2025 

•900 
4 000 

•500 
1 MS6 
1-580 

1 -240 

2 058 
•685 



6.8S0 
11,760 
16,640 

5,405 

5.5S0 
5,8GO 
7,440 
945 
2,580 
3,260 
3,310 
4,340 
1,445 



047 
•532 



Total in lb.— (1)* 
(2)t 
(3)t 



117 
7 093 
6 8:3 
6 741 



•818 




3,540 


•060 


2-908 




•036 




2,180 


3-827 




SI, 73.") 


5-091 


28 254 


86,615 


6291 




91,495 



* On the basis of Atw iter's analysis for very lean beef. As 1 kilogram 2,206 11>. apprwim -■: 
energy value of such meat is less than 1 Calorie per gram. 

t On the basis of Atwater's analysis for lean beef. Knergy value 16 Calorie* par gram. 
I On the basis of Atwater's analysis for me lium fat beef. Energy value ft Calories per grain. 
§ Seven quarts is the quantity stated in the dietai J m - -<• (Adult Males) 

1918, p 31, and Board's Ueelarati >o of ?tli October, lOTJl 
Taken as dried peas. 
% Twenty per cent, allowed for parings. If the potato is cooked in it, -k n th< • irr.-.v \alue of 14 lb. 
is 5,600 Calorics. 

** Three pennyworth allowed in dietary scale— of little or no energy vaKio. 

t* Represents the sum of 2s. 2d. converted at * bout 3d. i er lb. The nn»'y-i- ■ - ilrape*. 

plums, beans, &c, have bifdl energy \.ilne<- ; cehliace, i." . bM a ln\ ei«r.-\ raliu . I be euergj value of 
parsnips, seems to be a rough mean for average fruit and if;c abks. 



25 



This Board's regimen for man, wife, and two children under 14 years 

of age represents six-sevenths of the dietary scale of Table XII. Using the 

man-value of that family as derived by using Lusk's coefficients (sea 

Table XI), the regimen works out as follows: — 

Table XIII. 

Analysis of New South Wales Board of Trade Begimen for Standard 

Family (31 units by Lusk's Coefficients). 





Amount daily, assuming the consumption of— 


beef. 


Constituent. 


Very lean beef. 


Lean beef. 


Medium fat 




Man. 


Wife. 


Average 

child 
under 14. 


Man. 


Wife. 


Average 

chilil 
under 14. 


1 
Man. 


Wife. 


Average 
child 

under 14 


Protein; grams 127 

Fat ; grams 69 

Carbohydrate ; grams 507 


105 

57 

421 


SI 

43 

322 


1 

, 123 

91 

507 


102 

76 

4-21 


7S 

5S 

322 


121 
113 

507 


100 

94 

421 


77 

72 

322 


Energv- value ; 

Calories 3,230 


2,680 


2,050 


1 
3,410 


2,S30 


2,170 


3,610 


3,000 


2,290 



It will be observed that the variation in the protein content of the diet 
according to the kind of meat selected is almost negligible; on the other 
hand, an increase of 100 Calories per man per day can be got by purchasing 
medium fat meat instead of very lean meat. 

Average Consumption in New South Wales. 
The change in the average diet of the community since the year 1911 
may be studied in Table XIV following. The quantities are taken from 
the Year Books of the Government Statistician.* 

Table XIV. 
Household Consumption per head per week of various descriptions of food in New South Wales 





during the years 191 1 


, 1916, 1917, and 1918. 








Description. 


Energy 
Value 
per 
lb.f 


1911 

Quantity. 


Energy 
Value. 


1916. 


1917. 


191S. 


Quantity. 


Energy 
Value. 


Quantity. 


Energv 
Value*. 


Quantity. 


Energy 
Value. 


Beef 


800 

900 

1,850 

2,200 

300 

700 

310 

1,665 

1,120 

1,630 

1,650 

1,860 

1,860 

950 

3.600 

1,780 

325 


lb. 

2-96 

187 
■11 
■20 
•12 
•08 

3 48 
•80 

4-00 
•16 
•04 
•14 

1-20 
•32 
•50 
■06 

3-48 
•14 


Calories 

2,368 

1,683 

204 

440 

36 

56 

1,079 

1,332 

4,480 

261 

66 

2,232 
304 

1,800 
107 

1,131 


lb. 
1-90 
1-40 
■04 
•16 
•22 
•10 

"•80 
3-68 
•16 
•04 
•12 
1 20 
•34 
•58 
•06 

14 


Calories 

1,520 

1,260 

74 

352 

66 

70 

893 

1.332 

4,122 

261 

66 

223 

2,232 

323 

2.08S 

107 

1264 


lb. 
1-82 
134 
•06 

•is 

■20 
•10 

2-52 
•80 

3-68 
•14 
04 
•12 

1-20 
•28 
•58 
•06 

3 94 
•16 


Calories 

1,456 

1,206 

111 

396 

60 

70 

781 

1,332 

4,122 

228 

66 

223 

2,232 

266 

2,088 

107 

1,281 


lb. 
1-64 
1-20 

•08 
•20 
•20 
•08 

2-46 
•80 

3-68 
•14 
•04 
•12 

1-20 
•24 
•54 
•06 

4 04 
•16 


Calories. 
1,312 




1,080 
148 


Pork 




440 


Fish, fresh 


60 




56 




763 


Flour 


1,332 


Bread 


4,122 
228 


Rice 




66 




223 




2,232 

228 




Butter 


1,944 
107 




Milk, fresh 


1,313 


Tea 












„■•• 


17,839 




16,253 




16,025 




15,654 








.... 1 .... 1 2,548 




2,322 




2,289 




2,236 







* Official Year Books of New South Wales ; " Food and Prices " ; 191 1-1918. 
t The energy values taken for beef and mutton are discussed in the following pages, 
t Mean of years 1910-12 taken for meat ; mean of 1907-9 taken for other descriptions of food. 
See Table XVIII and Official Year Book of N.S.W., for 1918, Part XII, p. 49P. 



26 

It is necessary to reduce these figures, which are per head, to the corres- 
ponding figures per man of the population of New South Wales. The 
Committee of the Eoyal Society, using Atwater's coefficients, found 77 a» 
the man-value per head of the population of the United Kingdom.* Pro- 
fessor Wood, using the same coefficients, but in addition, splitting up the^ 
population into various grades of activity, found the same value, 0-77 (see 
Table IX). Professor Starling, using Lusk's coefficients, found 835.f 

Tables XV and XVI following show the constitution of the population of 
Xew South Wales at the Census of 1911, and the approximate constitution 
for the average of the three years 1st July, 191G, to 30th June, 1918, the 
statistical years taken by the Government Statistician in Table XIV above. 
The statistics of migration show that the average depletion of males during 
that portion of the war period was about 70,000. To these the food coeffi- 
cient 13 has been ascribed, as these men were drawn from the more ener- 
getic sections of the community, and would therefore, had they been present, 
have consumed more food than the average man. 



Table XV. 

Constitution and Man- Value of Population of New South 

Wales, at Census, 1911. 



Age and Sex. 


Number in 
thousands. 


Lusk's Coefficient. 


Equivalent Mf>n. 


Under 14 

14 and over — 


495 635 

544 83 
608 1 


314 

452 


Males 


608 


Total 


1,647 




1,374 



Average Man-Value = 834. 

The average man-value thus found, viz., 0*834, is practically identical with 
that found by Professor Starling, using the same coefficients, for the popu- 
lation of the United Kingdom. 



Table XVI. 
Approximate Constitution of Population of New South Wales 
Average of 3 years, 1st July, 1916-30th June, 1918. 



Age and Sex. 


Number in 
thousands. 


coefficient.* Equivalent Men. 




585 

640 

720 

-70 


0635 

083 

1 

1-3 say 


371 


14 and over — 


631 




7 JO 


Less depletion dur- 


-91 






Total 


1,875 




1.532 







Average Man-Value = 0817- 



• " Report on Food Supply of United Kingdom," 1917, Part I, Appendix II. 
" The Feeding of Nations," by Professor Starling, London, 1919. 

* With an additional coefficient to allow for men of youth and vigour beyond the 
average. If, however, 1"1 or 1*2 be taken inbtead of 1'3, the result is but slightly 
affected. 



27 

Thus it appears that the man-value per head of population was reduced 
during the three years to which the table refers, by about 2 per cent, on an 
average. The apparent diminution of the energy value of the diet shown 
in Table XIV is, however, about 10 per cent, on an average and reaches 
12 per cent, in 1917-18. Applying the figures showing the man-value of the 
population per head, we find that the energy value of the food covered by 
the Government Statistician's tables was 3,055 Calories per man per day 
in 1911, and 2,790 Calories per man per day on the average of the three 
statistical years ended 30th June, 1918. 

The Statistician's figures are, of course, not exhaustive. Poultry, eggs, 
and rabbits are. not included in Table XIV. The energy value of these 
amounted, before the war, to 0-9 per cent of the total energy value of the 
food supply of the United Kingdom. Fruit and nuts, and vegetables other 
than potatoes, are not included. These formed in the United Kingdom 
3-6 per cent, of the total energy value of the food supply. Cocoa and chocolate 
and condensed milk are not included in Table XIV. The Statistician's 
figures show, however, that the consumption of condensed milk is about 
6 lb. per head per annum, or about 25 Calories per head per day. The 
produce of private gardens and that portion of the produce of farms which 
is consumed by the producers are not included in Table XIV. These 
together were estimated at about 5-2 per cent, of the total energy value of 
the pre-war food supply of the United Kingdom. 

It is probable that, to allow for these missing items, the consumption 
covered by the Statistician's tables should be increased in energy value by 
10 per cent, or 15 per cent, in order to arrive at the total consumption of 
food per head in New South Wales. On that basis it would seem that the 
food available for consumption in 1911 had an energy value as purchased of 
between 3,300 and 3,500 Calories per man per day. These are rather small 
figures compared with the corresponding pre-war figure for the United 
Kingdom, viz., 3,091, divided by 0-835 (using Lusk's coefficients), which 
amounts to 3,700 Calories per man per day. 

The energy value per man per day of the food supply of New South Wale3 
has been calculated on the basis of 800 Calories per lb. of beef, and 900 
Calories per lb. of mutton, as purchased. The energy value of beef con- 
sumed in the United Kingdom in war time, which was largely imported, 
was taken by the Inter-Allied Food Commission at 1,040 Calories per lb., 
and of mutton at 1,270 Calories per lb. These energy-values are about 16 
per cent, below the figures taken by that Commission as representing the 
energy values of the beef and mutton consumed in England before the war. 
Perhaps the Australian is a greater fat-eater than the figures taken, viz., 
800 and 900 Calories, suggest. An increase of 10 per cent, in the energy 
values of beef and mutton so assumed would give an increase of 58 
Calories per head or 70 Calories per man daily for the year 1911. Even, 
however, if local meat be assumed to have the war-time energy values taken 
by the Inter-Allied Commission, the Australian total consumption of 
Calories per head or per man hardly reaches the British consumption. 
There are, therefore, decided indications that the Australian is a smaller 
consumer of Calories than the Britisher. 

The consumption of meat in New South Wales has diminished enormously 
during the war, but the Australian is still, probably, nearly the greatest 
meat-eater in the world. Kecent statistics are not available for all countries. 



28 

The following figures are from " The World's Food," Vol. LXXIV of 
The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 
November, 1917, p. 26: — 

Table XVII. 
Consumption of Meat in Various Countries. 



Country. 



Australia 1902 

New Zealand 1902 

United States 1909 

Argentina 1S99 

1910 
1906 



Canada 

Cuba 

United Kingdom 

Germany 

France 

Denmark 

Switzerland 

Belgium 

Netherlands 

Greece 

Austria-Hungary 

Norway 

Poland (Russian) 
Sweden 



Spain 

Italy .. . 
Portugal 



1913 
1904 
1902 
1899 
1902 
1902 
1899 
1890 
1902 
1899 
1902 
1899 
1890 
1901 



Annual 

Consumption 

pur Iliad. 



lb. 

263 

212 

m 

139 
137 
123 
118 
112 
79 
76 
75 
71 
T<> 
67 
64 
61 
61 
61 
50 
48 
46 



Thus in 1902 the annual consumption in Australia was 2G3 lb. per head. 
The New Zealanders were next with 212 lb. In 1909 the Americans con- 
sumed 171 lb. per head, and in 1910 the Canadians consumed 137 lb. But 
in 1917-18, the latest year for which the Government Statistician ^rives 
figures, meat consumption in New South Wales had dropped to 162 lb. per 
head. The following table* shows the average consumption in New South 
Wales per head in each year since 1910 : — 

Table XVIII. 
Annual Consumption of Meat in New South Wales, per Head. 



Year. 


Beef. 


1 i 
v , | Mutton and 1 p . Bacon and 
>eaL Lamb. ' Pork - ' Ham. 

1 


Total. 


1910 


lb. 

142 2 

147 6 

1610 

1483 

118-3 

971 

93 

83 7 


lb. lb. 
31 1000 
33 101-3 
4-4 90-9 
41 93-8 
33 78-8 
1-6 73-1 
2 69-8 


lb. lb. lb. 

o-9 "fin-.i 


1911 


50 
6 2 
3 8 
3 

2 

3 R 


10-7 287 9 


1912 


111 273*6 


1913 

1914-15 


9-8 2598 
9-4 212*8 


1915-16 


8-0 1818 


1916-17 


9-6 178*0 


1917-18 


1-5 627 4 

i 


101 1620 







The increasing consumption of pork, and bacon and ham since 1915-16 

to indicate an effort on the part of the population to make up for the diminu- 
tion in the total by increasing the proportion of fat. 



• Official Year Book of N.S.W. for 191S, p. 459. 



29 

Table XIV shows a similar increase since 1911 in the consumption of 
butter, and of milk which also provides animal fat. There has been no 
tendency. Table XIV shows, to increase the consumption of carbohydrates 
to make up the deficiency ; in fact, the consumption of bread, potatoes, rice, 
and oatmeal is subject in each case to a decline since 1911. Professor 
Starling remarked, as already quoted, a similar disinclination in Great 
Britain during the war. 

The Government Statistician suggests that it is probable that a g-rowing 
consumption of rabbits in New South Wales has partially replaced the 
decline in the consumption of meat. He states that the local consumption 
of rabbits during 1917-1918 is estimated to have amounted to 60,0d0 pairs 
per week, and that this amount was doubtless as great as for the whole 
period of the three years 1907 to 1909.* We may therefore take 40,000 
pair- iting the increase in the consumption of rabbits 

between about the year 1910 and the year 1917-18. Fair samples of the 
rabbits being sold at the present time in the butchers' shops weigh 
between -1 lb. and 4J lb. per pair, and rabbits as purchased have an energy 
value of about 860 Calories per lb. Therefore, the decline in the consump- 
tion of those meats which are included in Table XVIII has been replaced 
by about 009 lb. of rabbit (having an energy value of about SO Calories) 
per head per week, or about 4"7 lb. per year. As the decline is, roundly, 
100 lb. of meat per head per year, and as the energy value of lean beef and 
mutton is. roughly. 15 per cent. less, and that of medium fat beef and mut- 
ton, roughly. 25 per cent, more than that of rabbit, it follows that as regards 
energy value the increase in the consumption of rabbits has made up for, 
perhaps, 5 per cent, of the decrease in the consumption of meat. 

The Government Statistician also suggests that the decrease in the eon- 
sumption of meat has been partially made good by an increase in the con- 
sumption of eggs.* The energy value of eggs, however, is popularly over- 
rated. An average egg is worth about eighty Calories,f three-fifths of this 
coming from the fatty content. The old idea that an egg is equal to half 
a pound of steak is very wide of the mark. It is really equal to about 
an ounce of average beef containing no bone. By an additional consump- 
tion of from two to two and a half eggs every day by every head of the 
population — that is to say, by an additional consumption of six or seven 
dozen eggs every week by an ordinary household of five persons — the out- 
standing deficiency in the consumption of meat during the years 1916-18 
might have been made up. To maintain this average, the additional con- 
sumption of eggs during the periods of plenty would have been considerably 
greater than, perhaps twice as great as, the average additional consumption 
indicated. This additional consumption of eggs, which would have sufficed 
to make up the deficiency outstanding after allowing for the slight effect 
of the increased consumption of rabbits, is so large that it may be doubted 
whether so much as one-quarter of it really took place. 

The quantities of foods which form the basis of Table XIV are derived 
from results which, in the Government Statistician's own words, " have 
been compiled carefully, and . . . are published with a large degree of 



* Official Year Book of N.S. W. for 191S, p. 458. 

fEggs are, however, rich in important mineral matters ; moreover, egg fat, like 
milk, butter, and the leaves of plants, is a source of one of the vitamines. 



30 

-confidence as indicative of the consumption of the more important articles 
of diet."* Assuming, therefore, that the figures are well grounded, the 
inferences from them may be summarised as follows: — 

(1) The total food made available for consumption in New South 
Wales before the War had, probably, somewhat less energy value 
per man per day than the pre-war consumption in the United 
Kingdom, assuming the same energy values for beef and muttou, 
viz., 1,040 and 1,270 Calories per lb., in both countries. 

(2) The average consumption of the chief descriptions of food, as 
listed by the Government Statistician, fell, in energy value per 
man per day, from 3,055 Calories in 1911, to an average of 8,790 
Calories during the three years ended 30th June, 1918, assuming 
the same energy values for beef and mutton, viz., 800 and 900 
Calories per lb., during the periods compared. 

(3) This fall was due for the most part to a decrease in the consump- 
tion of meat as a whole. 

(4) The deficiency was not made up by an increase in the consump- 
tion of carbohydrates; in fact, the consumption of carbohydrates 
decreased. 

(5) The increase in the consumption of rabbits may have made up fur 
15 of the 265 missing Calories per man per day. 

(G) An increase in the consumption of eggs and poultry may have 
made up for, possibly, 40 or 50 further Calories per man per day. 

(7) The consumption of potatoes decreased by, roughly, 25 per cent. 
An increase in the consumption of fruit and of vegetables other 
than potatoes may have taken place. Consideration of the course of 
prices of fruit and vegetables, their bulk and comparatively low 
average energy value, together with the disinclination to make up 
the deficiency with bulky cereals which has already been noted, 
indicates that any such increase amounted probably to but a small 
fraction of the deficiency. 

(8) The consumption of fatty foods such as pork, bacon and ham, and 
milk, has increased noticeably since 1915-16. 

(9) ]\fuch of the deficiency could have been made up by consuming 
the fat of meat, instead of wasting it as is implied by assigning to 
beef and mutton energy values so low as 800 and 900 Calorii - pel 
pound. 

(10) Either the inhabitants were content to live on a lower metabolic 
level, or they chose the simple course of eating more of the fat 
and dripping of meat. 

(11) Probably they chose that simple course, instinctively avoiding as 
far as possible the unpleasant alternative. 

Although an increase of 10 per cent, in the assumed energy value of 
beef and mutton produces for the year l'.U 1 an increase of aboul 7<» Calorics 
per man per day, yet the diminution in the consumption of meat during 
the war was so great that a similar increase of 10 per cent, produces for 
the years 1916-18 an increase of only about 45 Calorics per man per day. 
Therefore, even if we assume a 20 per cent, increase above BOO and 900 
Calories in the energy value of the beef and mutton as used, the missing 
Calories, after allowing for the recovery indicated in paragraphs (5), (6), 
and (7) above, are not made up. That assumption too makes tbe average 
energy value of the total meat and fish consumption of 1916-18 work out 

• Official Ye»r Book of N.S. W. for 1916, p. 457. 



31 

at 1,040 Calories per lb. This is exactly the value for medium fat meat 
taken in the analysis of the dietary scale in Table XII, on which this Board's 
regimen is based. It seems unreasonable that the assumption of increased 
effectiveness of usage should go beyond 20 per cent. 

The final conclusion to be drawn from the analysis of these figures is of 
a serious character. Unless an exhaustive investigation, at their sources, 
of the statistics provided by the Government Statistician shows that they 
are considerably in error, there is little doubt that the population of New 
South Wales as a whole lived on a lower metabolic level during the three 
war years, 1916-1918, than in the year 1911. 

The effects of restriction of diet are insidious. They are not immediately 
felt. Professor Starling says that the inhabitants of Germany were at first 
able to carry out their ordinary work under the stress of the circumstances 
in which they were placed. The later effects are well known. Rowntree 
and Booth give statistics showing, as stated by Starling, that before the 
war 30 per cent, of the people of the United Kingdom were under-nourished. 
The death rates in York are given by Rowntree as follows for different 
classes : — 

Death Rates ix York. 

Per 1,000 of Population. 

Poorest class 28-8 

Middle class 20-7 

Highest class 13-5 

Average for York 18-5 

Professor Lusk says that the under-nourished may live on much less food 
than those who are well fed and up to normal weight. But if the workers 
do not get enough to eat they cannot do the same amount of work. " In 
buying food the labouring population is buying energy,'' said the Commission 
on the Food Supply of the United Kingdom, ''and a slight reduction of 
food below the necessary amount causes a large diminution in the working 
efficiency of the individual." 

Additional light will be thrown on the question of consumption in New 
South Wales by the statistics for the year 1919 which the Government 
Statistician is now preparing. These will perhaps be available in the 
course of a month. 



The Board's Regimen compared with the Average Consumption of the 
Community. 
In comparing the regimen hitherto adopted by this Board with the average 
consumption of the community as shown by the Government Statistician's 
figures, the former must be taken as in the hands of the consumer : while the 
latter, being presumably statistics of foods available for consumption, must 
be subjected to a deduction for loss in distribution. This was placed by 
Professor Thompson at between 5 per cent, and 10 per cent, in the United 
Kingdom before the war. In the following table tbe items of the Board's 
regimen are shown as six-sevenths of the corresponding items in the dietary 
scale shown in Table XII ; the food available for consumption is derived 
from the figures given in Table XIV by taking the Board's standard family 
as equivalent to 3.1 men according to Lusk's coefficients, no deduction being 
made for loss in distribution. 



32 



Table XIX. 



The Board's Regimen compared with the Average Usage of the Community. 



Description of Food. 


Average Weekly 

Consumption of 

Board's Standard 

Family (3 1 man-units; 

during the years— 


Description of Food. 


Board's Ri-frimen 

for Standard 
Family fS.l man- 




1911. 


1916-13. 


for One Wmk. 


Beef 


lb. lb. 
1100 678 
695 l 4-9S 


Meat 


lb. 
1371 


Mutton 


Suet 




Pork 


•41 
•74 
•45 
•30 

19-S5 


•23 

•6S 
•78 
•35 

13 80 






Bacon and Ham 






Fish, fresh, &c 






,, Preserved 








Total, Meat and Suet .. 




Total, Meat and Fish.. 


1 i si 


Potatoes ... 


12-94 
2-97 

14-87 
•59 
•15 
•52 

4 46 
119 

186 

•22 

12 94 

•52 


9-94 

304 

13 96 

•56 

•15 

•45 

4 55 
• 109 

2- 15 

•23 

15-04 

•58 


12 00 


Flour 


Flour 


3 43 


Bread 


Bread 


1714 


Pvice 


Rice 


1-71 


Sago and Tapioca 






Oatmeal 




2 57 






171 




Fruit and Vegetables ... 


7 '71 




S6 


Sugar 




3 43 


Jam 




•86 




Treacle 


1 -71 


Butter 


Butter .... 


129 


Cheese 




Milk (fresh) 

Tea 




Milk (fresh) 

Tea 


15 43 
•43 



33 



APPENDIX*. 

Table of Composition and Calorie Value of the more Important Foods 
adopted by the Inter-allied Scientific Food Commission. 

The figures are based for the most part on the analyses of American foods, 
as given in Bulletin 28 (revised edition) of the United States Department of 
Agriculture, the averages adopted being on the lines of the report of the 
Royal Society Food (War) Committee (Cd. 8121). In calculating the calorie 
value from the composition, the factors used were : — 

Calories. 

1 gram protein 4T 

1 ,, fat 93 

1 ,, carbohydrate 41 

In estimating the food resources or the different allied countries, the Com- 
mission decided to take no account of the calorie value of alcoholic drinks 
(beer, wine, spirits) whether home produced or imported. 



Energy-value 

per kilo. 



Cereal*. 

, Per cent. 

Wheat and barley flour 11*5 

Oatmeal ! 160 

Barley meal '■ 105 

Tapioca, sago, arrowroot, &c j 8-3 

Maize meal 7'5 

Rice 8-0 



Per cent. 
10 
80 
2 2 
06 
4 2 
03 



Calories 
3,640 
4,000 
3,600 
3,650 
3,500 
3,540 



Meal. 



Beef (United Kingdom, pre-war) 

Beef (United Kingdom, war time, and 

countries) 

Veal 



other 



Mutton (United Kingdom, pre-war) 

Mutton (United Kingdom, war time, and other 

countries) 

Lamb 

Bacon 

Ham 

Other pig meat (fresh pork) 

M eat orlals 



145 

150 
160 
135 

135 

15 
95 
14-5 
100 
20-0 



18 

63 

30 

24 
18-9 
60 
34 
400 
100 



2,690 

2,290 
1,230 
3,340 

2,790 
2,370 
6,000 
3,750 
4,120 
1,750 



Poultry, Eggs, &c. 



Poultry and game ... 

Eggs at 2 oz 

Rabbits, imported (excluding skins) 



15-0 
120 

21-7 



10- 



1,500 
1,400 
1,900 



Fish. 



Herrings 

Other fish, fresh 

Shell fish (without shell) 
Canned and salted fish ... 



116 

10-0 

5-0 

20 6 



4-0 

10 

15 

103 



850 

500 

350 

1,800 



* From " The Feeding of Nations " by Professor Starling, London, 1919. 
f 74664— B 



34 



Commodity. 




per kilo. 



Dairy Produce. 

Milk 

Butter 

Cheese (United States and United Kingdom). 

Cheese (France and Italy) 

Condensed milk, unsweetened 

Condensed milk, sweetened 

Margarine 

Lard 



Per cent. 

33 

10 

25 

9 6 
88 
I «2 
2-2 



Per cent. 

8-7 
85 
30-0 
290 

93 

83 
88'fi 
94 



Calories. 

T.HI 

8,700 
1,700 
3,300 
7,800 



Fruit. 

A pples 

Bananas 

Oranges 

N uts 

Fruits, fresh 

Fruits, preserved (without sugar) 



3 

7 

is.V 

0-7 
20 




180 

Otid 
850 

2,600 

500 

2,800 



Vegetable. 

Chestnuts 

Potatoes 

Beans, peas, and lentils (dripd) 

Green peas and broad beans (shelled) 

Other vegetables 

Preserved vegetables (bottled and canned) 







2,000 


1-8 


o i 


700 


24 3 


1-3 


3,600 


:•'• 


5 


l,00i> 


075 


015 


2< K) 


15 


0-3 





Sugar, Cocoa, d-c. 

Cocoa (and chocolate) 

Sugar (taken as refined) 

M olasses 

Glucose, solid 

Glucose, liquid 

Olive oil (refined) 




4,800 
4,100 
2,300 
3,400 
3,200 
9,300 



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